Impact Of Life Experiences Research Articles

"My problem is that I live next door to my mother-in-law": Arab women's postpartum experiences with positive and negative social interactions and the impact on their well-being: A qualitative study.

Social support is commonly associated with women's postpartum health. Yet such support can also have unintended effects and trigger negative reactions. This study provides a qualitative examination of the positive and negative social interactions described by Arab postpartum women. Participants were Arab women recruited at Mother and Child Healthcare Clinics (MCHC). Inclusion criteria were married women over the age of 18 with a healthy newborn who described both positive and negative social experiences. Exclusion criteria were signs of postpartum depression. Data were gathered using semi-structured in-depth interviews that were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Themes and categories were extracted based on interpretative phenomenological analysis. The impact of lived experiences on the well-being of postpartum women was explored. Data analysis revealed three main themes: (1) Support from the family and community: positive impact on the mother; (2) Negative social interactions as invasion of mother's personal space; (3) Impact of negative social interactions on mother's relationship with her family. A deeper understanding of the social environment of these women and the factors that affect their well-being during the critical postpartum period can help MCHC staff offer culturally appropriate support and relevant interventions.

Exploration of the Effect and Orientation of Psychological Factors in Non-commissioned Officer Education

The psychological factors have become unavoidable problems in the learning and growth process of Non-commissioned officers due to the pressure learning and training, or the impact of life experiences, negative psychology affects the learning effect of the students, and even causes the students to deviate from the normal life track, if we carefully study the different effects of negative psychology and positive psychology, intervene in combination with positive psychological orientation in the learning process, explore the development of implementation means, give full play to the great advantages of psychology in the teaching process, and it will make the students' learning effect and psychological quality training have a complementary effect.

Impact of Life Experiences and Use of Web 2.0 Tools in Adults and Older Adults

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between favorable and stressful life experiences and perceived quality of life, practices that promote quality of life, psychological profiles, and the daily use of web 2.0 tools in adults and older adults. An online questionnaire was designed, which was administered to 1,095 Spanish adults and older adults, and conducted descriptive and multivariate analyses using the general linear model. Our results showed that favorable and stressful life experiences alike were associated with differential patterns in psychological profiles, perceived quality of life and daily activities and practices that affect quality of life, including the use of web 2.0 tools. Favorable life experiences mainly affected psychological profiles and the use of web 2.0 tools, whereas stressful life experiences affected the other factors analyzed. Statistically significant differences were not found according to age and gender. These findings have important implications for promoting successful psychological and social interventions.

Impact of Life Experiences on Hearing in Noise

Impact of Life Experiences on Hearing in Noise

Life Experiences Throughout the Lifespan: What Do People Say (or Not) About Them?

Life experiences have been a topic of interest for researchers and clinicians for decades. Current knowledge is rooted in two distinct approaches, i.e., personality psychology and psychosomatics. Whereas the first is interested in ordinary life stories of nonclinical individuals, based on a more qualitative, in-depth, and person-driven approach, psychosomatics stresses negative events, mainly in clinical samples, and presents a more quantitative, general, and construct-driven approach. Consequently, available evidence is dispersed and unrelated and many basic questions remain unanswered. This study aimed to explore occurrence, developmental stage, valence, and impact of life experiences and to analyze critical answering patterns (i.e., “I don’t remember,” missingness). Through a cross-sectional retrospective design, 394 adults from the community answered the Lifetime Experiences Scale, which covers 75 life experiences organized in eight domains (i.e., school, job, health, leisure, living conditions, adverse experiences, achievements, and people and relationships). Occurrence of life experiences varied greatly, and the mean number of experiences reported was approximately 30. Regarding developmental stage, most experiences were reported in just one stage—mainly adulthood—however, some could be considered chronic. Globally, life experiences tended to be clearly rated as positive or as negative; additionally, assessed experiences were mainly appraised as positive. Moreover, participants presented their experiences as significant, rating them as high impact. Overall, critical answering patterns were not very expressive: “I don’t remember” and missing answers were below 2 and 5%, respectively, in the majority of experiences. These findings offer several important new insights, suggesting that life experiences are mainly an idiosyncratic topic.

Other Ways of Knowing.

Patients with advanced-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may suffer severe respiratory exacerbations and need to decide between accepting life-sustaining treatments versus foregoing these treatments (choosing comfort care only). We designed the InformedTogether decision aid to inform this decision and describe results of a pilot study to assess usability focusing on participants' trust in the content of the decision aid, acceptability, recommendations for improvement, and emotional reactions to this emotionally laden decision. Study participants ( N = 26) comprising clinicians, patients, and surrogates viewed the decision aid, completed usability tasks, and participated in interviews and focus groups assessing comprehension, trust, perception of bias, and perceived acceptability of InformedTogether. Mixed methods were used to analyze results. Almost all participants understood the gist (general meaning) of InformedTogether. However, many lower literacy participants had difficulty answering the more detailed questions related to comprehension, especially when interpreting icon arrays, and many were not aware that they had misunderstood the information. Qualitative analysis showed a range of emotional reactions to the information. Participants with low verbatim comprehension frequently referenced lived experiences when answering knowledge questions, which we termed "alternative knowledge." We found a range of emotional reactions to the information and frequent use of alternative knowledge frameworks for deriving meaning from the data. These observations led to insights into the impact of lived experiences on the uptake of biomedical information presented in decision aids. Communicating prognostic information could potentially be improved by eliciting alternative knowledge as a starting point to build communication, in particular for low literacy patients. Decision aids designed to facilitate shared decision making should elicit this knowledge and help clinicians tailor information accordingly.

Influences on the psychosocial adjustment of siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder in Taiwan and the United Kingdom

BackgroundThe present paper examined the psychosocial adjustment of typically developing (TD) siblings of children with ASD and the extent to which this is impacted by key demographic and psychosocial variables. A cross-cultural perspective was adopted to compare influences on coping and adjustment in Taiwan and the United Kingdom (UK). Method155 mother-TD sibling dyads participated, 80 in Taiwan and 75 in the UK. Participants reported by questionnaire on family demographics, symptom severity of the child with ASD, TD siblings’ life events, subjective well-being, social support, coping strategies, parent and sibling Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) level and adjustment outcome. ResultsAccording to their self-report, TD siblings’ in Taiwan were fairly well adjusted, while slightly elevated difficulties were found in the UK sample, with peer problems the biggest concern. Impact of life experience, sibling coping, and social support were related to adjustment in both countries, but with different coping styles important in the two countries. In the UK, parents’ coping style and siblings’ own BAP level also contributed to outcome. Some differences between Taiwan and the UK samples may result from culturally-specific patterns in evaluation of child behaviours. ConclusionsThe findings from this large-scale questionnaire study have implications for clinical practice. UK siblings’ adjustment might be enhanced via intervention on parent coping style, while Taiwanese siblings may be better supported through promotion of their own coping. Health professionals should be aware of the influence of BAP levels in parents and TD siblings, which might change the way they experience stress and respond under pressure.

What is personality change coaching and why is it important? A response to Martin, Oades & Caputi

This short paper is a response to Martin et al.’s (2012) assertion that Big Five factor scores are open to the influence of coaching interventions. It is based on an inspection of two key sources cited by the original authors. The first of these reports on the impact of life experiences on the long-term plasticity of Big 5 personality scores and the second on the impact of concentrated short-term coaching. Whilst there is support for long-term plasticity, the case for short-term coaching effects is unconvincing and coaches may be better served by focussing on the achievement of clients’ personal goals.

Evolution of secure services for women in England

SummaryPatients detained at high and medium security reveal significant gender differences in the presentation of psychopathology, mental disorder and social and offending profiles. However, secure mental health services in England, like prisons, generally fail to recognise the core importance of the differing biopsychosocial development in women and the impact of life experiences on women's subsequent biopsychosocial functioning. As a consequence, women are often inadequately provided for in services dictated by the identified needs, risks and responsiveness of men. The lack of clinically appropriate facilities for women may account for the increased frequency with which women are readmitted to medium security and for their longer admissions to both high and medium secure care. New tertiary services are developing as a result of the lessons learnt while providing gender-blind care. However, further development is required to ensure that women receive services of the same quality, range and nature of those received by men.

As UK policy strives to make access to higher education easier for all, is discrimination in employment practice still apparent?

Reporting on research into two major employers recruiting to the financial services industry, this article draws on data collected from interns, recruitment professionals and graduate employees in their first year of employment. It poses a number of strategy‐ and outcome‐related questions in an attempt to determine whether recruitment advisers are acknowledging a new breed of undergraduate with various skills and diverse histories. The research, involving two large employers, 172 trainees and their personnel managers, set out to explore the impact of life experiences on employment opportunities in the financial services industry. The evidence reveals that despite the fact that graduates entering the labour market have changed, becoming more diverse in terms of age, gender, previous education experience, interest and ambition, employers in the industry still recruit from the elite specifically in terms of their fast track to leadership programmes, known as internships.

Do You Look to the Future or Focus on Today? The Impact of Life Experience on Intertemporal Decisions

In this research, we investigate the impact of significant life experiences on intertemporal decisions among young adults. A series of experiments focus specifically on the impact of experiencing the death of a close other by cancer. We show that such an experience, which bears information about time, is associated with making decisions that favor the long-term future over short-term interests (Studies 1 and 2). Underlying this effect appears to be increased salience and concreteness regarding one's future life course, shifting focus away from the present toward the long run (Studies 3 and 4). Finally, we explore the shift caused by a cancer death of a public figure and examine its stability over time (Study 5). Implications for research on intertemporal decision making and the impact of life events on perceptions and preferences are discussed.

Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain

The mind involves the whole body and two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune, and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms. Stress is a condition of the mind-body interaction, and a factor in the expression of disease that differs among individuals. It is notjust the dramatic stressful events that exact their toll, but rather the many events of daily life that elevate and sustain activities of physiological systems and cause sleep deprivation, overeating, and other health-damaging behaviors, producing the feeling of being "stressed out." Over time, this results in wear and tear on the body which is called "allostatic load," and it reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also of genetic load, individual lifestyle habits reflecting items such as diet, exercise, and substance abuse, and developmental experiences that set life-long patterns of behavior and physiological reactivity. Hormones associated with stress and allostatic load protect the body in the short run and promote adaptation by the process known as allostasis, but in the long run allostatic load causes changes in the body that can lead to disease. The brain is the key organ of stress, allostasis, and allostatic load, because it determines what is threatening and therefore stressful, and also determines the physiological and behavioral responses. Brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex respond to acute and chronic stress by undergoing structural remodeling, which alters behavioral and physiological responses. Translational studies in humans with structural and functional imaging reveal smaller hippocampal volume in stress-related conditions, such as mild cognitive impairment in aging and prolonged major depressive illness, as well as in individuals with low self-esteem. Alterations in amygdala and prefrontal cortex are also reported. Besides pharmaceuticals, approaches to alleviate chronic stress and reduce allostatic load and the incidence of diseases of modern life include lifestyle change, and policies of government and business that would improve the ability of individuals to reduce their own chronic stress burden.

Do you look to the future or focus on today? The impact of life experience on intertemporal decisions

In this research, we investigate the impact of significant life experiences on intertemporal decisions among young adults. A series of experiments focus specifically on the impact of experiencing the death of a close other by cancer. We show that such an experience, which bears information about time, is associated with making decisions that favor the long-term future over short-term interests (Studies 1 and 2). Underlying this effect appears to be increased salience and concreteness regarding one’s future life course, shifting focus away from the present toward the long run (Studies 3 and 4). Finally, we explore the shift caused by a cancer death of a public figure and examine its stability over time (Study 5). Implications for research on intertemporal decision making and the impact of life events on perceptions and preferences are discussed.

004.From molecules to mind: stress, allostasis and integration of brain and body

The mind involves the whole body and two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms. Stress is a condition of the mind and a factor in the expression of disease that differs among individuals. A broader view is that it is not just the dramatic stressful events that exact their toll but rather the many events of daily life that elevates activities of physiological systems so as to cause some measure of wear and tear. We call this wear and tear 'allostatic load', and it reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also genetic load' individual life-style habits reflecting items such as diet, exercise and substance abuse' and developmental experiences that set life-long patterns of behavior and physiological reactivity (1). Hormones associated with stress and allostatic load protect the body in the short-run and promote adaptation, but the long run allostatic load causes changes in the body that lead to disease. This will be illustrated for the immune system and brain regions involved in stress, fear and cognition (e.g. hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex). Besides developmental influences associated with mother–infant interactions, the most potent of stressors in adult life are those arising from competitive interactions between animals of the same species, leading to the formation of dominance hierarchies. Psychosocial stress of this type not only impairs cognitive function of lower ranking animals, but it can also promote disease (e.g. atherosclerosis) among those vying for the dominant position, as well as depressive illness. Social ordering in human society is also associated with gradients of disease, with an increasing frequency or mortality and morbidity as one descends the scale of socioeconomic status (SES) that reflects both income and education. Although the causes of these gradients of health are very complex, they are likely to reflect, with increasing frequency at the lower end of the scale, the cumulative burden of coping with limited resources and negative life events as well as differences in life style, and the allostatic load that this burden places on the physiological systems involved in adaptation and coping. (1) McEwen, B.S. (1998) Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England J. Med. 238, 171–179.

Chapter 3 Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain

The mind involves the whole body, and two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune, and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms. Stress is a condition of the mind-body interaction, and a factor in the expression of disease that differs among individuals. It is not just the dramatic stressful events that exact their toll, but rather the many events of daily life that elevate and sustain activities of physiological systems and cause sleep deprivation, overeating, and other health-damaging behaviors, producing the feeling of being “stressed out.” Over time, this results in wear and tear on the body, which is called “allostatic load,” and it reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also of genetic load, individual lifestyle habits reflecting items such as diet, exercise, and substance abuse, and developmental experiences that set life-long patterns of behavior and physiological reactivity. Hormones associated with stress and allostatic load protect the body in the short run and promote adaptation by the process known as allostasis, but in the long run allostatic load causes changes in the body that can lead to disease. The brain is the key organ of stress, allostasis, and allostatic load, because it determines what is threatening and therefore stressful, and also determines the physiological and behavioral responses. Brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex respond to acute and chronic stress by undergoing structural remodeling, which alters behavioral and physiological responses. Translational studies in humans with structural and functional imaging reveal smaller hippocampal volume in stress-related conditions, such as mild cognitive impairment in aging and prolonged major depressive illness, as well as in individuals with low selfesteem. Alterations in amygdala and prefrontal cortex are also reported. Besides pharmaceuticals, approaches to alleviate chronic stress and reduce allostatic load and the incidence of diseases of modern life include lifestyle change, and policies of government and business that would improve the ability of individuals to reduce their own chronic stress burden.

Protective and damaging effects of mediators of stress. Elaborating and testing the concepts of allostasis and allostatic load.

Stress is a condition of human existence and a factor in the expression of disease. A broader view of stress is that it is not just the dramatic stressful events that exact their toll but rather the many events of daily life that elevate activities of physiological systems to cause some measure of wear and tear. We call this wear and tear "allostatic load," and it reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also of genetic load; individual habits reflecting items such as diet, exercise, and substance abuse; and developmental experiences that set life-long patterns of behavior and physiological reactivity (see McEwen). Hormones associated with stress and allostatic load protect the body in the short run and promote adaptation, but in the long run allostatic load causes changes in the body that lead to disease. This will be illustrated for the immune system and brain. Among the most potent of stressors are those arising from competitive interactions between animals of the same species, leading to the formation of dominance hierarchies. Psychosocial stress of this type not only impairs cognitive function of lower ranking animals, but it can also promote disease (e.g. atherosclerosis) among those vying for the dominant position. Social ordering in human society is also associated with gradients of disease, with an increasing frequency of mortality and morbidity as one descends the scale of socioeconomic status that reflects both income and education. Although the causes of these gradients of health are very complex, they are likely to reflect, with increasing frequency at the lower end of the scale, the cumulative burden of coping with limited resources and negative life events and the allostatic load that this burden places on the physiological systems involved in coping and adaptation.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Mid-Life Men who hold Leisure in Higher Regard Than Work

This study examines perceptions about leisure and work over time for two men at mid-life. The men were studied because they showed a consistent, long term pattern of valuing leisure more than work. Using longitudinal data, variables under investigation included ranking leisure, valuing leisure, leisure attitude, wants out of life, time for leisure, impact of life experiences, and perception of individual life structure. The purpose of the study was to explore the mid-life choice these two men made to disengage in work in order to pursue leisure. Findings demonstrated that the men held leisure in higher regard than work over the study period. This pattern was maintained through positive and negative life experiences, perceptual changes in life structure, and varying selections of most important wants out of life.